Heat exchange – With timer – programmer – time delay – or condition responsive... – Having heating and cooling capability
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-12
2004-03-30
Wayner, William (Department: 3744)
Heat exchange
With timer, programmer, time delay, or condition responsive...
Having heating and cooling capability
C236S09100C
Reexamination Certificate
active
06712133
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for automatically controlling temperature in a vehicle.
2. Background Art
Current automatic temperature control (ATC) units may operate more often than required to maintain the vehicle cabin temperature at a desired level, which may result in reduced fuel economy. These ATC units oscillate back and forth around a desired temperature or temperature range with the controller operating continuously to either cool or heat the vehicle cabin in an attempt to maintain the desired temperature.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
A system and method for controlling temperature within a vehicle cabin include monitoring various temperature sensors to determine current operating conditions, determining a desired temperature or temperature range based on occupant input, dynamically estimating a temperature gradient based on changes in the current operating conditions over a predetermined time, predicting a time when the desired temperature or temperature range will be attained based on the gradient and the current operating conditions, and controlling a heating/cooling system based on the predicted time. Controlling the heating/cooling system may include shutting off the system at the predicted time, or turning on the system at the predicted time. The process of prediction may include linear, non-linear, or empirical methods.
The present invention includes a number of advantages. For example, the present invention uses a predictive controller that estimates when a desired temperature setting will be reached given current conditions and current momentum of the system. This information is used to shut down the heating/cooling system so that it does not run continuously and, therefore, may result in improved fuel economy. In addition, the present invention may be used to optimize current linear heating/cooling controllers.
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Brown Kenneth Gerard
Kyrtsos Christos
Ford Global Technologies LLC
Hanze Carlos
Kushman P.C. Brooks
Wayner William
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